A Fake Proposal
by honeysuckles07
Summary: Tom/OC. Multi-chapter. A different turn on the movie The Proposal! :) enjoy
1. Mr Pompous Ass

**Intro **

Meghan loved her job, well she used to anyway. Lately however she has been bombarded with so much work after her promotion. After working here for 5 years, she expected a little recognition for her work, but a promotion of this standard? She loved it! Well, she loved it while she was working for Mr. Hughes. He was the old boss who got her the promotion in the first place, as the boss' assistant. Not that she minded at all, Meghan enjoyed Mr. Hughes, just like most of everyone else on the floor. She would always go and get his morning coffee at Starbucks and her one as well. He really loved her for it, and he never had to ask twice about anything. He was a very kind hearted person and no one had one bad thing to say about him. Unfortunately Mr. Hughes decided to retire early, and move to Hawaii with his family. It was sad to see him leave the company he was with for 41 years, but it was time for him to go.

"Meghan, are you sure you will be okay with me leaving?" Mr. Hughes asked with a sad look in his eyes. "I promise I will make sure that you will keep your job as the assistant, as soon as we find a new person to fill in my shoes, which I think we may have found the perfect fit for this company."

Meghan looked at him, smiling, "Thank you Mr. Hughes, I appreciate that so much! I can't wait to meet the new guy."

Now thinking back to that moment, Meghan wishes she still worked for him, instead of Mr. Pompous Ass.

Meghan can remember the first day Mr. Hiddleston got the job. As he walked through the floor, it seemed as if all the self-control in the room decided to take a day off. Every woman stared at him up and down, whispering and giggling to themselves like idiots once he went to his new office. And things haven't changed a bit since then. The younger women still act ridiculous around him and check their appearances in the little compact mirrors of theirs to make sure they looked decent. Yet he only waved them off as if they were flies buzzing around him. Sure he was attractive, even Meghan could see that, and everyone had a crush on him. Underneath the handsome exterior lies a cold, cruel interior. Once Meghan found this out, all of those silly feelings Meghan might have had for him evaporated into thin air. Most of them anyway.

She was now his assistant. Not Mr. Hughes. So she had to stop thinking of him in that way, even if she didn't want to. Which she did, she desperately wanted to stop thinking about him.

It's now been 2 years since Mr. Hughes left the company.

**Xxx**

**Chapter 1**

"Mr. Hiddleston! I was meaning to ask you something about…"

"Not now Ms. Barnes." Mr. Hiddleston exasperated as he made his way out the elevator to his office.

"Oh but, Mr. Hiddleston, I was only…" Rebecca stuttered out.

"Only what, darling?" Mr. Hiddleston asked her with a hint of sarcasm.

Rebecca immediately blushed when he called her "darling". "Well, I was just going to say, I really think I did a great job with this one. My story I mean. I feel like it could be…a Pulitzer Prize winner…" she finished gleaming up at him.

"That's marvelous Ms. Voker but if you will excuse me please, I have things to attend to in my office that actually matter. Thank you." And with that, he shut the door in her face.

_Pulitzer Prize winner my ass. I mean honestly. Does she really think he is even remotely interested in anyone here?_

Meghan had a good view of the little show to start the morning off since her cubicle is near Mr. Hiddleston's office. She watched as Ms. Barnes hung her head made her way back over to her little cubicle. Meghan did notice the glare she received form Ms. Barnes as she passed her desk as she made her way back.

Meghan has gotten used to the looks she's received since Mr. Hughes' departure. Every woman in here would give their right arm for her position. Being bossed around more often by Mr. Hiddleston than the rest of the employees, getting his damn coffee for him every single morning, accompanying him to every one of his meetings, oh YES, she loved all of it so much.

Not.

She rolled her eyes at the thought of him, which unfortunately, these thoughts have occurred more frequently to her dislike. After her boyfriend and she of two years broke it off, her work has encompassed every aspect of her life since she has a lot of free time, so she's spent it with her work. This meant that she also spends a lot more time around Mr. Pompous Ass, which didn't help her mood any at all. For some reason, he had clouded her thoughts, even though she has tried to withhold them. It wasn't that hard for her though, being that he was one of the most downright pompous jerks she has had the misfortune to have met.

She was just swiveling back and forth in her chair, trying to get him out of her head.

_Wait…no, he wasn't in there. Ugh. GET OUT YOU RAT BASTARD. You with your damn blue eyes, and your damn…_

"Ms. Smith. If you could make your way into my office at once." a cold voice came from over her pager.

_Arrogant sod_

Meghan rolled her eyes at the couple of women beside her, sighing heavily, wishing they were the ones being summoned to his office. Meghan reluctantly rose from her chair.

She walked into his office and looked over to his desk where he is busy writing away something.

"Did you call Mr. Stark about the conference we were having about the spring books?" Mr. Hiddleston asked as Meghan shut his office door, not glancing her way.

"Yes. He said it would be just fine to move it over to September, even though he seemed curious why."

"Oh yes, he is always one to be nosy in others affairs. What about Janet? Did you hear back from her?" He asked still looking down at his desk scribbling away.

"Yes, I told her that if she didn't turn her manuscript in on time then you will send her release date."

Tom didn't reply or look up at her, he just kept writing. She tapped he foot on the wooden floor a few times. Nothing.

After 3 minutes of this, Meghan asked him if there was anything he needed at the moment.

He finally looked at her, his eyes lingering on her a bit longer than necessary.

"I have a request for you Ms. Smith, a rather big one I'm afraid."

Mr. Hiddleston kept his gaze on her waiting for a reply.

Meghan shifted a bit, uncomfortable in the position.

"Oh well alright, what is it?" she asked back.

Right at that moment his phone started ringing. Meghan reached over and answered it for him.

"Mr. Hiddleston's office. Oh yes hello Bill! Oh he did? We will be right over, thank you."

Why are we going to Bill's office?" Meghan asked. He didn't answer, he only sighed heavily and rose from his swivel chair and walked out, expecting Ms. Smith to follow. And she did, only because it was her job to.

"Did you read the manuscript I gave you?" Meghan asked, almost hopeful.

"No."

_Of course not_


	2. Revelations

Chap2

Chapter 2

His phone started ringing and Meghan reached over and answered it for him.

"Mr. Hiddleston's office. Oh yes hello Bill! We will be right over, thank you."

Why are we going to Bill's office?" Meghan asked. He didn't answer, he only rose from his swivel chair and walked out, expecting Ms. Smith to follow. And she did, only because it was her job to.

"Did you read the manuscript I gave you?" Meghan asked, hopeful.

"No."

Of course not.

When they made it to Bill's office on the other end of the floor, Tom opened the door as Meghan walked in before him. "What's this about?" Meghan eyed him suspiciously. Tom only winked at her as she passed him. Meghan just wanted to rip his pretty little face off.

"Well Bill, me and my lovely assistant have some big news to announce, and we thought you would be the perfect person here at the company to tell!"

"Miss Smith and I are engaged."

Meghan could feel the blood drain from her face. "What…?" Her mouth slightly agape, she glanced up at Mr. Hiddleston, who placed an arm around her waist.

"For a while now, we have been seeing each other, however just a month ago, I asked her to be mine, and I am hers. And we are so very…lucky." She would almost see how much it pained him to say the last part. But he still kept a small smile on his face. He glanced down at her and slightly raised his eyebrows as to play along with his little game.

"I…I…engaged…right yes." Engaged? What the hell is he thinking? What did I do to make him remotely think that I wanted to be engaged to him?! And why is he telling Bill this?

"Well, I can't hide the fact that I am surprised at this revelation, but congrats none the less Mr. Hiddleston and Miss Smith!" Bill gave Meghan a slightly confused expression. "I hope you two will make each other very happy. Make sure I get an invite to the wedding!"

"Of course!" Tom exclaimed, "but Bill, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone else about this, not yet any ways. Miss Smith and I would still like to keep it a secret until closer to the big day." His arm that was still wrapped around Meghan's waist started to drag her out of the office. Which was necessary since her legs has decided to quit working. "Come now Miss Smith, back to work, we mustn't take up anymore of Bill's time." As Tom and Meghan were walking out the door, she heard him say, "Well Mr. Hiddleston, you might want to start calling your fiancée by her first name! Hahaha!" And the door shut close with a click. Meghan turned back around on her heels to see Mr. Hiddleston already halfway to his office. She hurried to catch up with him and demand answers. As she finally closed his office door behind her, she turned around to look at him, already settled at his desk, and scribbling yet again just like before.

"Mr. Hiddleston…"

"Yes Miss Smith?"

"Would you mind explaining what that was all about with Bill?" Meghan demanded, a little frustrated with him.

"Oh, that?" Tom didn't even look up from his writing. "What else would it be? You didn't leave me a memo about the fact that we were to be betrothed!"

"Oh Miss Smith honestly, there's no need to be dramatic."

Dramatic? DRAMATIC? Are you joking? This is a joke, right? You're just trying to rile me up. Is this a late April Fool's Joke? I can't breathe. I can't…"

"Miss Smith, this is quite enough of your rambling. I didn't hire you to be my assistant for your anger issues." Meghan couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth. "You didn't hire me! I was here before you slithered in here and took this position! I didn't ask to be in this position and I certainly did not ask to be your fiancée! So I would appreciate it if you could explain what the hell is going on!"

Tom peered out his window that looked out to the rest of the cubicles, which had a perfect view of Meghan's desk, she duly noted. He got up and closed the blinds, "Alright! I will tell you, as long as you stop yelling and calm down."

Meghan sat down in one of the chairs opposite his chair on the other side of his desk. "My parents have always been proud of me and my accomplishments. They have always praised me my hard work, and they were so very happy when I got the job here."

As we all were. Meghan rolled her eyes.

"However, here of the late, they have been very…stressed at my other situations. I am 32 years old Miss Smith, and yet to have a girlfriend, let alone a wife. I have had girlfriends, just none I saw fit enough to wed. And anyways, I've been too busy with work related things. My parent's life dream is to see me settle down with a woman that I love and have a family and yadda yadda." Tom looked at her with almost pleading eyes. "I just need you…to pretend to be my fiancée, for 2 weeks."

Meghan just sat there in shock. "Why me?" was all she could muster.

"You do know me better than anyone else here. And I don't have many friends."

"I could never have guessed." Meghan said bluntly. His gaze hardened as he stood from his swivel chair.

"Look Miss Smith, I know this isn't exactly your most ideal way to get proposed to, but…"

Hahaha!

"Well you are right about that Mr. Hiddleston! Especially not from you! I mean after all that you have put me through here at this company, and now you are asking for the ultimate sacrifice! I mean honestly!"

"Please Miss Smith? Just this one thing, I know it's huge, but.."

She looked up at him; he was leaning over his desk at her on his arms, almost was verging on pathetic. And she liked it.

"What's in it for me?"

His expression brightened as he rose back up started walking around to the other side of the room. "A pay raise…"

"How much." Meghan stood up and crossed her arms, not giving in lightly.

"Enough." He retorted sternly.

"Alright…what else?" she rolled her eyes again.

"A paid vacation, all expenses paid as well mind you. Even food."

She looked at him, and with a wary sigh, "Alright, I accept. But when we get back to work everything will be as it once was correct?"

"Well of course. And after a couple months, I'll tell my family that we called off the wedding for some reason, we will cross that road when it comes."

Meghan started back over to his office door turned around and asked, "So when does this little game start?"

"Tomorrow, JFK airport at 8 am, don't be late. You may leave work early to prepare if you like." He winked at her, as she left his office.

What have I gotten myself into?


	3. Airport Annoyances

Chapter 3

8 a.m. JFK airport

"Why did you tell Bill?" Meghan asked Tom about when he blabbed to Bill about their 'proposal'.

"Just for a practice run."

The two of them were sitting in the airport, waiting to go through security and for their plane to arrive. They've been sitting there for the past hour and a half, mostly in silence. Tom was busy typing away on his iPhone, with work related things Meghan figured. After Tom made his little plea to her yesterday in his office, she has been really thinking the situation through.

Why should I pretend to be engaged to this ass after the way he has treated me? After these 2 years of constantly being put down on every little thing I do, and he marches in my life asking me to do the most impossible task for him like he was expecting me to accept. Ugh. I just can't even…

Meghan hands clinched the sides of the chair she was sitting in next to Tom, her anger at the current situation getting more obvious. Well maybe to some people, but not him, still fiddling with his phone.

She began grinding her teeth, still thinking about the predicament.

I won't do this. I can't and will not. No way.

She looked up at the clock located right above them, 8:13 a.m.

I can still get away. Maybe if I pretend to go to the restroom, and then flee. He wouldn't even notice for a while, until they call for our flight to go. Our plane doesn't leave until 9:45 anyways. Hell, he doesn't even notice me sitting right here, I could take all of my things with me and we wouldn't fucking notice.

"Miss Smith, would you be a dear and go fetch me some coffee. You know what I like." Tom requested from her, still looking at his phone.

Oh yes. A swift kick in the groin, I bet you would love that.

Meghan didn't move. She sat in the chair, her hands still grasping the armrests, slightly shaking now. Tom looked over her way briefly. "You haven't forgotten have you? After getting my coffee for me every morning now for the past year and a half I would think that's one thing you would have remembered from your work, even if you did forget other vital information every now and then about other things."

Oh, so now he is criticizing me about my coffee memory and my job. Arrogant douche.

30 seconds later and no reply from her, he sighed. "Am I going to have to remind you? It's a grande iced…."

"I KNOW!" Meghan yelled. Tom finally put his phone down and looked up at her, now standing up out of her chair. A young couple and a few others who sat near to where they were glanced their way, giving them looks of concern and annoyance. Tom just looked at her with a look of confusion. "Darling…people are staring…" Tom whispered urgently.

"Don't you even start…don't you darling me you piece of shit." Meghan looked down at him, seething.

"You always had a way with words, Miss Smith."

"Well, you are not going to have to deal with my 'way of words' any longer. Because I am leaving, I am not going to go through with this!" Meghan huffed and started gathering her bags from the floor.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Tom asked, obviously confused at the situation.

"Oh trust me darling, my heart was not in this at all. No part of me. You are going to have to find some other stupid girl to kneel to your every command because I am not the one!" Meghan had all four of her bags and suitcases awkwardly placed on her shoulders and in her hands, and started towards the exit.

"Wait now Miss Smith, I don't think you want to do this."

She wasn't listening, and still trudged forward.

"Miss Smith! Aren't you forgetting who signs your paycheck?!"

Meghan stopped in her tracks, still turned away from him.

"Are you…threating me Mr. Hiddleston?" He obviously had gotten very angry very suddenly, which just made Meghan even angrier.

He shouldn't be the one who is mad; I deserve to be mad at him!

It was silent for a few seconds. She was considering just walking out, on him, and her career that she has worked so hard to get.

"Yes."

Meghan turned around. He had a hard look in his eyes, almost as though he was holding back the pain he was feeling at her leaving. But mostly all she saw was anger and hate.

"Look, I'm sorry." He bluntly apologized.

"Wow, how heartfelt. I think I will just marry you right here on the spot!"

"Oh you are so hard to deal with you know, I think you live to give me headaches on a daily basis." Tom groaned, rubbing his eyes.

Meghan's mouth opened slightly, she couldn't believe what he was saying.

"I give YOU headaches. Well join the damn club."

Tom sighed. "What can I do? I already promised you a free vacation, and a pay raise."

Meghan stared at him for a bit, looking him up and down. His hair was a mess, his loose curls sticking at different angles all over his head, his eyes looked tired as if he didn't good a good night sleep, and hasn't in a while. His jacket was wrinkled and his tie hung crookedly around his neck.

Man, he looks like crap. But the good kind of crap. The kind of crap you would want to bang against your…no. No no no NO.

Meghan looked away blushing slightly. "Um…well…"

She looked back into his eyes, he suddenly looked attentive. As if he noticed the sudden change of her demeanor.

"Well?"

She looked down at him once again and noticed his pants were unzipped.

"Hah!" She muffled her laugh with her hand.

"What is so bloody funny?!" he demanded.

Meghan suddenly got an idea.

"I know one thing that you can do that will convince me to come with you and be your pretend fiancée." Meghan smiled.

"And what would that be?" Tom growled.

Meghan grinned. "On your knee."

"Pardon?"

"You heard me, if you want me to be your fiancé, Mr. Hiddleston; then you must ask me properly. Now like I said before, on your knee."

Tom looked around the waiting area. "People are going to see." He huffed.

"And?" Meghan raised her eyebrows.

Tom looked around again, and sighed heavily. He slowly bent down and finally was on one knee, looking up at Meghan.

A few people who were walking by stopped to watch the spectacle unfold. A guy from behind Tom wolf whistled in their direction.

Tom grimaced as he quickly asked, "Miss Smith, willyoumarryme?"

"What was that? Sorry I didn't hear." Meghan's grin was even bigger than before.

"Don't play with me, you heard."

"Oh Tom, you wouldn't want to be turned down in front of all these lovely people now would you?"

He looked around and saw the crowd was getting bigger. He thought he might as well get this over with before the whole damn airport decided to watch.

"Miss Smith, will you do me the honor and be my wife?"

Meghan waited a few more seconds, just enjoying seeing him like this in front of her. "If I must."

A thunderous round of applause and clapping followed as Tom hastily got up from his position.

"Now are you going to finally agree to do this for me?" Tom asked apprehensive and obviously annoyed that she made him propose to her in front of a crowd.

"Well I suppose so. After I put you through that, I couldn't possibly say no." She smirked and started back to where they were sitting before. Just as she was passing Tom, she whispered in his ear, "Next time you get down on your knee make sure your zipper is closed. Just for my eyes sake."


	4. Surprises and Smartasses

Meghan had never ridden on an airplane. It didn't make things better that her first was with her shit boss. She looked across the plane at the other people aboard. Most of them looked very calm, like they have done this a thousand times. One young girl sitting across the aisle from Meghan caught her attention though; she was tearing at the edges of her pamphlet she was holding in her lap. Meghan even noticed she was grinding her teeth. Behind the young girl was a man sitting next to his wife presumably, holding a baby, who also looked scared to death, clutching the poor thing as if his life depended on it. Meghan straightened back into her chair, her whole body tensing up.

_Oh god, I'm gonna die. _

"So…how long is this plane ride going to be exactly?" Meghan glanced over at Tom for an answer. He looked rather relaxed, already leaned back slightly in his seat, breathing deeply. "Oh, only about 6-7 hours I presume."

"Only?" Meghan's hands started shaking. She grabbed onto the arm rests of her chair to keep from fainting.

_Breathe in and out. Come on Meghan you can do this. I mean you knew you were going across the Atlantic; of course it was going to be more than a couple hours._

Tom noticed her sudden change in demeanor. He reached inside his suitcase for something and pulled out some medicine.

"Here take this, it will calm you down."

Meghan looked up at him, still shaking slightly. "What if I don't know if you're just trying to poison me?"

"Well now love, wouldn't I wait until after you met my family?" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "You take one first, so I know it's not a trick."

"Oh fine. Here look." He took a pill and swallowed it with a bit of his avian water. "You're turn." He took her hand and placed the pill in the center of her hand.

She obeyed and swallowed the pill with the same water.

"Now, just relax. It helps with the nervousness. You will probably fall asleep in no time."

Meghan heard the flight attendant on the overhead speaker telling everyone to buckle their seatbelts.

She internally groaned.

"You know, I would have never thought you would be afraid of plane rides Miss Smith."

"Well, I've never been on one before, and anyways, I usually have someone on it with me that I know…and care about for that matter. So at least if we die, I know I'd die in nice company."

"Ouch." He grinned his nasty evil grin at her.

_Bastard._

A couple minutes passed and the plane started to move.

_Okay...okay…okay. Here we go. 6 hours on a death trap with Mr. Big Head. Okay. Lovely._

The plane kept going at an unbearably slow pace on the runway for what seemed like eternity. The plane swiveled around and then it finally started picking up speed. Tom looked over to her with raised eyebrows. She just smiled slightly, making it look like she was going to make it, even though what she really wanted to do was throw up her coffee and toast from earlier. Meghan wanted the outside seat so she wouldn't feel so claustrophobic, but now she was regretting it. She wished she was sitting by the window seat so at least she could cower in the corner and hide.

Then suddenly, the plane's front started going up at an angle and Meghan felt her body being pressed into her seat. She grasped at the arm rests and her left hand found not the rest, but Tom's hand.

She desperately attempted to hide the blush creep up her neck to her cheeks, and immediately removed her hand from his and slid it under her thigh.

_He had his hand on my rest! Bastard. Probably did that on purpose_.

She glanced over at him and saw him staring at her. She didn't keep the eye contact for more than half a second before removing her gaze to look at her right hand in her lap, clenched in a fist.

"It will be alright Smith, just breathe." He then reached over and grabbed her head from under her thigh and held it as they continued upward into the sky.

Meghan realized that the plane was way higher off the ground than before. She looked across the plane at the windows furthest from her, not daring to look at Tom's way again, and saw buildings and houses that looked as big as Legos now. She moved her gaze straight ahead and relaxed, suddenly feeling more relaxed than she ever had in a while. Then suddenly, he removed his hand from hers and put his pillow up against the window, blocking the sun from her eyes.

"You gonna make it? It's easy sailing from now on" he smiled slightly as she nodded her head. Meghan relaxed further into her seat and pulled her own pillow up to lay her head onto it.

_Man that medicine he gave me must be in full swing now…_

**Xxx**

Meghan felt the rays of sunlight behind her still closed eyelids as she woke up from her nap. She yawned, and moved to pull her pillow closer to her. However she couldn't feel her pillow anywhere. Whatever her head was leaning against moved.

_Shit._

Her eyes reeled open and she sat up from her seat. She noticed her head had been leaning on Tom's shoulder.

Meghan looked over at his face. His head was leaning on the glass of the window, sound asleep. His mouth was slightly open, soft snores coming out. He looked as though he needed a good shave as well, his facial hair getting a bit too long for her taste.

_My taste? Eugh. I have no taste for him at all._

_Okay maybe a sliver of a taste._

_This is going to be a long 2 weeks._

She was playing a game on her phone when she heard him turn over and stretch his long legs.

_The beast has awakened._

He slowly opened him eyes, and looked at her, with a sleepy expression.

"We there yet?"

"Um…no."

He looked at his watch, "Well it should only be a few more hours now."

Meghan thought for a second, and realized she had a few questions for him.

"So…once we get to London, are we going to be staying in a hotel?"

"Yes..?" Tom answered, looking at her questioningly.

"Well I was just wondering you know."

Tom looked back out the window, utterly bored of the conversation at hand even though Meghan wasn't done. "So, what am I going to do if your mother decides to ask me personal questions about you that I won't know but should? You know, since I am your _fiancée_ and all."

"You don't even give a man two full minutes to wake up before barricading him with questions."

"You must be a pleasure to wake up to in the morning." Meghan grimly noted.

"So I've heard." Tom winked at her as he reached inside his suitcase again, but instead of getting the medicine to silence her questioning, he took out a stack of papers. "Here, this is everything you should need to know about your future fake husband." He threw a stack of typed papers into her lap.

"Damn, I wish I would have thought about doing this."

"Oh don't feel too terrible, not everyone can be as clever as me you know." He smirked at her. "Oh, and you never said thank you for when I comforted you on the plane earlier. How ungrateful."

"You comforted me? Oh, you mean when you grasped onto my hand like a leach? I thought YOU were the one that was scared, by the way you clung to me."

"Nice try Miss Smith, now where is that thank you?"

"Not going to happen." She folded her arms.

"You know we aren't starting this engagement out very well you know." He looked at her and realized she wasn't going to budge. "Alright, don't you just write down some things about yourself that I don't know, and we can both study up on each other."

He gave her some paper and a pen and she began writing some basic things about herself, like her interests, her likes and dislikes, etc.

_Like he would even care about this crap_

After she finished and they both studied up a bit, they decided to use the last hour they had to quiz each other.

"What am I allergic to?"

"Peanuts, and the full spectrum of human emotions." Meghan stated bluntly.

"Oh haha, very funny." He replied sarcastically.

"You know Mr. Hiddleston, I know pretty much everything about you, and you know having to be your assistant and run errands for you every day, and listen on while you rambled about things I didn't even remotely care about."

Meghan looked to him, half scared of his response to that. He only looked at her thoughtfully. "You know Miss Smith, you and I should do this more often, I am finding out so much more about you every second.; much more than I did at the office. Which may I remind you; I am still your boss, so it would do you well to remember to treat me with respect every now and again."

Meghan just looked away grimacing.

"What is my favorite color?" Tom asked her again.

"Blue."

"Wrong. And I thought you said you knew _everything _about me."

"I said pretty much!" Meghan snapped.

"Hmmm…"

_Ugh please let this nightmare end soon. Two weeks can't get here any sooner._

He looked at her with a bored expression and turned his attention outside his window.

Then they suddenly heard the flight attendants voice on the speaker again.

"Everyone we will be landing shortly, so please fasten your seatbelts."

_Here we go._


	5. Meeeting the Family

When they finally got off the plane, Meghan noticed how considerably darker it got.

_Time change, I suppose. _

As soon as her feet hit the ground, she wanted to kiss it. She stomped her feet on the ground and danced around, not even caring who saw, she figured not many could see her, since it was dark outside anyways. The one person that she didn't want to see however did. Tom laughed at her little jig as he got off the plane. "Now dear, I think we all know who the scared one was out of the two of us. You seem much happier now though, keep it up, I might be able to bear being around you more often than I anticipated."

"Oh well then I will stop immediately."

Tom just gave her a half smile as he walked on past her. She rushed to keep up with him.

_Damn him and his long legs._

As they walked into the London airport, she saw crowds of people standing around holding signs with different names plastered on them. She looked around at all the names, and asked "Mr. Hiddleston, you're family isn't going to be meeting us here are they?"

"Oh no, I told them all before we left that we would be checking into the hotel and then we would meet them for…"

TOOOM!

Tom's eyes widened as he stared past me, to whoever yelled his name.

"Oh lovely, I was wrong. They are right behind you, I guess they forgot what I said." He stated grimly.

Meghan turned around and saw a woman holding a sign that read Tom's name on it; her face was beaming with happiness.

"Is that you're mother?"

"Yes. Let's go."

He started walking even before Meghan could grab her bags from the ground beside her feet. He didn't even bother helping her out either.

_Typical. Not even for the parents._

Meghan grabbed her bags and trotted behind Tom, through the crowd, trying her damn hardest to keep up with him.

Right beside his mother was another young girl who looked to be in her young 20's, around Meghan's age. She looked just as happy to see them as well.

When Tom finally reached them, his mother hastily put down the sign and took her son in her arms.

"Oh my boy! I haven't seen you in the longest time!" She hugged him for a couple more seconds and let go, turning her attention to Meghan, who came up dragging her bags with her.

"Oh Thomas, why don't you help the poor girl, goodness!"

"Oh she's quite alright mother, she is quite the trooper."

The younger girl glanced at him, her eyebrows raised, while his mom still was grinning from ear to ear.

Meghan put her bags down again and said "Hello, nice to meet you Mrs. Hiddleston."

"Well hello! Nice to finally meet you! Tom has told us all about you dear!" she reached around and gave Meghan a hug as well.

"Oh well, nice things I hope?" laughed Meghan.

"Oh yes."

He looked a lot like his mother, he has her electric blue eyes, and her dirty blonde hair.

"Hello, I am Emma, his younger sister." She held out her arms and gave her a hug as well.

"Nice to meet you." Meghan smiled.

Emma looked a lot like them as well except her brown eyes.

Everyone should stood there, a bit awkwardly for a few seconds. Tom just looked uncomfortable, not even standing near Meghan at all, like he had forgotten she was his fiancée for the next 2 weeks.

"Well, let's get a move on then, shall we?" his mom piped up.

Tom finished putting the last of the suitcases in his mother's car, and got in the backseat, beside Meghan.

They drove for a while, small talk ran rapid, and Tom was about to go insane. Then suddenly he realized they weren't headed towards the hotel. "Well mother I wasn't expecting you to meet us here, after our phone conversation I thought I told you we were to get cleaned up at the hotel first, and then meet you all for dinner." Tom looked tired, and a bit on the annoyed side that his mother ruined his plans.

"Hotel? Oh yes that's right now I remember you saying that. Well there is no need for that my dear. We have your old room fixed up for you too already." His mother smiled.

Meghan glanced over at Tom, looking confused. "Um, no mother that is quite alright, we have plans to stay in a hotel already. We…"

"That's not necessary Thomas! You know we don't mind! We want to see the most of the happy couple while we can after all!"

"But..."

"No _buts_ Thomas this conversation is over, come on now you two lovebirds! We are here! And Thomas stop being such a drag, Miss Meghan here deserves the best company."

Tom's mouth stood agape.

Meghan couldn't help but snicker and the current state of her boss, and the way his mother deals with him.

"Well someone is a momma's boy?" Meghan gleamed with delight up at him.

"Hush this instant Miss Smith!" He snapped as followed her out of the car.

_Holy shitake mushrooms._

As soon as Meghan got out of the car, she saw his house, and man was it something else. It looked as if it was something off of Downton Abbey. The place itself looked to be the only house for miles. It was made entirely of a light brown brick, and had columns lining the front porch that wrapped around to the other side of the house. In the background she saw a blue lake, which had a dock, she saw several people fishing there already. It had light blue shutters on the windows that went well with the color of the brick on the house. The grass was beautiful, the trees surrounding the place were lovely, and everything was just perfect.

"Wow, this is beautiful." She whispered to Tom. But he was over with his younger sister, several feet away. She walked over there and made it in the middle of the conversation they were having. "Emma, did mother have to invite all of these people here?"

"Tom! It's for you and Meghan of course! To celebrate the engagement! Don't fret dear, its family and a few friends, nothing big." Confused, Meghan looked back to the front of the house and saw several, if not 10-15 cars in the drive.

"Well, I'm going to where the party is happening! You guys come along when you can. Looks like mother already made her way inside. You need help with the bags Thomas?" Emma asked.

"No Em it's quite alright. I think we'll manage. She grinned as she made her way back to the mansion.

Tom walked closer over to where Meghan stood. "Well I just want to apologize beforehand. This idiotic party shouldn't last too long. Don't be nervous or anything." While he was saying all of this to her, his own hands was quaking slightly. She remembered the plane, and when she was nervous.

"It will be alright Hiddleston, just breathe." Then she took one of his shaky hands into her own, before following his sister back to the house.


	6. Party Poopers

They walked down the hill to the house, and stopped in front of the door.

"You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Meghan replied.

With that, Tom opened up the door to his parent's house, holding it open for Meghan to go through first.

She was greeted by a huge sign hung up over the kitchen area that said 'Congrats Tom & Meghan!' and tons of smiling faces everywhere she looked. Several people actually came up to her and introduced themselves as Tom's old friends; Meghan vaguely remembered them from studying up on Tom during the plane ride. Mostly they came up to introduce themselves, and congratulate them both on the "engagement".

Meghan started to feel sick her to her stomach at the thought that this is all fake and in a few months his parents are going to get a memo that his darling son and fiancée called off the wedding. She tried her best to act through the thoughts racing in her head, as Tom looked her way and noticed how uncomfortable she looked. He was just about to ask her if anything was the matter, then suddenly they both heard his mother call them into the living room.

As Meghan started into where his mother called them, Tom grabbed her wrist and pulled her back slightly towards him.

"Are you alright? You seem like your head is somewhere else at the moment."

"Oh, no yeah I'm alright thanks." Meghan eloquently replied.

Tom let go of her wrist and raised his eyebrows at her, obviously not believing her words. Yet they started back into the living room. Meghan finally was able to take in the grandness of the house on the inside. As they walked towards the living area the ceilings rose, and Meghan noticed the stairway to the left, and it seemed as if all the guests had relocated into the living room, and were standing around waiting for them. They were greeted by a round of applause that echoed right to Meghan's core. Yet she still put on a smile for them.

"Well everyone, I would like to make a toast, to Tom and Meghan! To the happy couple!" said an older woman Meghan thought to be Tom's grandmother.

"To the happy couple!" everyone yelled.

Tom looked down at Meghan and smiled as sweetly as he could muster as he raised his glass in the air. Meghan followed and took a sip of the champagne.

"Ah come on now you two! Kiss!" yelled one of Tom's old friends from high school. "Yeah!" followed half of the room.

What.

Tom cleared his throat, as Meghan practically coughed up the bit of champagne she had just drunk; she realized everyone was silent at this point except for her coughing. All eyes were on them and Meghan could feel a blush faintly on her cheeks.

"No no that is quite alright Robbie." Tom glared over at him.

I'm going to kick this Robbie's ass later mark my words

"We like to keep things like that in the privacy of our bedroom, isn't that right sweetheart?"

Meghan couldn't hide her slight eye roll even if she tried. She still decided to play along with what Tom was saying though, and nodded her head shyly, grinning at the crowd.

"Oh come now Thomas, it's just a little kiss." Emma crooned.

"Yeah!" Robbie agreed.

"Oh please! Will everyone stop being so immature!" Tom sternly stated with narrow eyes.

Thankfully though, most of the people in the room got bored of the conversation and continued on in their own side conversations, not paying attention to Tom's sudden outburst.

"Well alright Tom, no need to be such a hothead." his mother made her way over to us as she pointed over to the kitchen area, "Dear, why don't you show Meghan to the food, we have plenty! And I am sure you both are starving!"

Now that she mentioned it, Meghan was rather hungry. Tom grabbed her hand and led her out of sight from everyone in the sitting area. Once they got into the kitchen his hand left hers and found some chips and a small sandwich and started eating. Meghan did the same, and no words were spoken between for a few moments. After Tom swallowed the bit of food he had ate, he spoke.

"I'm…sorry. I didn't think my family would have done all of…this." He said, gesturing around him to the food and balloons that surrounded them.

"Haha, well it's okay. I find it very endearing that they care for you so. Everyone seems incredibly nice, especially your mother."

"Yes, they are, most of them anyways." Meghan couldn't ask what he meant by that because the same guy who yelled at them to kiss a few minutes prior walked into the kitchen.

"Hey man! Sorry about earlier. You never were one to kiss and tell, am I right?" he winked at Tom.

"Erm…no. Just leave it Rob."

Robbie's hair probably couldn't get any more red, even if he tried. He wasn't bad looking by any means, Meghan just never really had a thing for gingers, unless they could pull it off; like Tom, especially Robbie's type of red head, with the freckly face and pale skin, the whole shebang.

"Right right sorry." He apologized and then looked over to Meghan with a wide grin. "So you are the lucky lady huh? Damn Tom you do know how to pick them! How is she?"

Meghan knew her face was at least five shades redder than it should be.

"Robbie! What the hell?"

"Hey hey man! It's a valid question. Where's the fun-loving Tom I used to know? Has America turned you this cold?"

He just stared at him, his eyes shooting daggers his way. "I don't know what you mean, but I think Miss Smith and I are going to retire for the night, isn't that right…dear?" Tom looked back at Meghan with raised eyebrows.

"Miss Smith?! Are you freaking kidding me mate? I mean, I know she's your assistant, but man, you could at least call her by her first name." Robbie looked from Tom and back to Meghan.

Tom was about to reply when Meghan chimed in.

"Oh yes, I am quite exhausted from the plane ride you know, very nice to meet you though Robbie!" Meghan fake smiled.

"Oh the pleasure is all mine." Robbie cooed, as he took Meghan's left hand in his hand and kissed it.

At that exact moment, Tom grabbed her right hand to dragged her away, "Right, goodbye Robbie." He said urgently as he trotted upstairs, away from the party. Meghan looked back at Robbie questionably, and saw that he still had the same grin as his eyes followed them out. As they were going upstairs, Meghan looked down and noticed a lot of people have already left. She glanced at the clock and it said it was 2:54.

Damn, no wonder I feel tired

They passed by a few doors, and finally made it to the end of the hallway. Tom opened the door to his room, and they both went inside. Meghan's eyes widened as she noticed how big it was. Her eyes went to his king sized bed firstly, located in the middle of the room. She noticed the big window that almost took up the whole wall space, curtains placed around them perfectly. The colors were a dark pale green, mostly, with some red and silver accents. She walked over to him and noticed he was moving and hiding some things rather quickly, trying to be discreet about it. She made a mental note to check it out later.

"Well, this Robbie character seems like a lovely person." Meghan smirked.

Tom quickly turned around to face her, "What? Are you kidding me?" he asked her despairingly.

"No! I was only kidding! He seemed like a gigantic.."

"Arse."

Meghan laughed, actually laughed at something he said. "Yes, that sounds about right." She smiled up at him as he came to stand right in front of her, looking down at her, his expression unreadable.

As he turned around and walked over to his bed, Meghan sighed heavily.

It's going to be harder than I thought to act in love with this man

Tom then proceeded to take a couple pillows and the top blanket off of his bed, and laid it right it on the floor. Once he got it to his liking, he plopped down, still in his clothes, obviously too exhausted to change.

Meghan looked to their suitcases, and decided she would wait to unpack in the morning, she was tired as well.

"So, um am I going to sleep in your bed then?" Meghan asked.

"Yes." Tom muffled through his pillow.

"Oh right, well, goodnight Tom."

He looked up at her, "Night Miss Smith."

She rolled her eyes, and got into his, rather comfy bed.

She rolled over to look down at Tom, "Wow, you actually have a woman in your bed Thomas, I'm impressed. And quite a looker I might add."

Goodnight, Miss Smith." Tom replied colder than before.

"How does it feel to have your assistant in the boss' bed Tom, quite scandalous no? Meghan teased him.

When she didn't hear a reply she turned back over and decided to sleep, she was going to need it.


	7. Bare Chests & Blushing

Meghan woke up as she felt the sunlight peer through the blinds on her face. Then she glanced up at the clock.

1:09 p.m.

Oh shit!

Meghan got up quickly and got some clothes out of one of her suitcases to get ready for a shower. She looked over to where Tom had slept and saw it was only a pile of pillows and blankets.

Tom must have went down to get something to eat, or something

Meghan grabbed her clothes and jogged towards Tom's bathroom. When she reached the door, her hand hardly even touched the knob when it opened on its own. Meghan yelped and back tracked slightly as Tom walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

"Oh…sorry. I didn't know you were…in there." Meghan stuttered as she stared at his toned chest.

"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer." Tom smirked, as he passed her to grab his clothes.

"I…I…" Meghan couldn't even think of a sly reply, so she just went into the bathroom to hide from her embarrassment. She swore she heard him chuckle before she slammed the door h leaning against the door as she tried to control her breathing.

It's too early for that.

Even though it was 1 in the afternoon.

After her little embarrassing incident, she got out of the shower, got dressed and left his bedroom to go downstairs. As she turned the corner into the kitchen, she heard Tom talking in the kitchen with his sisters. She found Tom laughing along with his sisters at something funny he said.

"Good morning Meghan, or should I say good afternoon!" his mother greeted her. "Good afternoon!" Meghan replied with a smile.

Tom turned around in his seat; still smiling from whatever they were laughing about before. He gestured to Meghan to sit beside him. It was nice to actually see him happy for once, cutting up with his family. Then she remembered something Robbie said from the party last night;

'Where's the fun-loving Tom I used to know? Has America turned you this cold?'

He used to be 'fun-loving? Interesting…

"Miss Smith and I would love to meet up with you all later."

His mom turned back to him, with a questioning glance, "Miss Smith? You mean Meghan?"

She looked to Meghan, confused and looking as though she needed more explanation.

"Well, Tom and I have worked together so long, once we started, dating, it was hard for him to start calling me by my first name." She laughed. Everyone else just stared at her, not knowing what to think of it.

"Well, alright." His mom smiled, "I told Tom that we could all meet you two up around 6:00? For dinner? It's a bit late for lunch now."

"Okay that sounds lovely." Meghan grinned.

His mother and sister's went to go out to the store and run some errands, and that left Meghan and Tom at the house by themselves. It was eerily quiet compared to the laughter she heard earlier. Meghan looked over to Tom and saw his demeanor changed from the laughing, happy Tom, to the serious, business-like, jackass Tom she was so accustomed to back home. Tom suddenly got up from his seat at the kitchen table and went back up the stairs, muttering something about having to go and make phone calls for work, leaving her alone. She decided she would just go and watch some TV in the living room until they had to go eat dinner. Trying her best to not let her thoughts drift to the shirtless Tom she ran into this morning, Meghan slumped in one of chairs in the living room.

Sigh

They were now standing in front of the restaurant, waiting to meet some of Tom's family when his phone started ringing.

"Hello? Oh yes that is fine. Okay we will see you later. Okay bye. Love you too."

Meghan gasped. "You actually said the word love, and you said you loved someone else?! How can this be?"

"It was my mother." Tom coldly replied, "And she said they will be late. So erm…" he looks back to his phone, reading his new text, before continuing, "Alright Miss Smith, why don't you go over to the restaurant and get a table, and I will meet you back over there a bit later hmm? I have a few calls to make that are work related, so try not to call unless it's urgent, thank you." He turned and started to walk in the opposite direction. Meghan didn't even think before running over to him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back over to her.

"You know, as much as it pains me to say it, if this is going to work, you are going to have to put more effort into it damn it!"

Tom's eyes opened a bit wider at her sudden outburst with surprise.

"Well Miss Smith, I…"

"No you listen for once! For starters, you're going to stop calling me Miss Smith for the love of everything holy! Especially in front of your family! Oh, and it would help if you would actually, oh I don't know, hold my hand every now and then instead of grabbing my wrist; or touched my arm, or maybe even fucking looked at me for one god damn minute more than you do! And then maybe everyone will actually believe we are in love with each other! 'Cause you know, most fiancée's do…love each other." She slowed down at the end of her rant and just stared at him, breathing heavy.

His mouth was formed in a hard, straight line as he stared at her too, eyebrows knitted together. He was contemplating everything she just threw at him.

After about 20 seconds of this, Meghan was about to just walk out on this whole thing when she finally heard him reply.

"I suppose you are correct."

"Damn right I am."

He rolled his eyes, "Alright enough cussing."

You didn't marry me for my innocent mouth Thomas."

"You're right, I didn't marry you at all, yet, now have I?" He smirked down at her.

Once they got into the restaurant or pub more or less; Meghan excused herself to go to the ladies room to cool down.

She stared herself down in the mirror, questioning herself in every way possible. She didn't know why she had gotten so angry with Tom just a mere 5 minutes prior, it just angered her how one minute he can be so cheerful and full of life, and the next he can turn into the same cold hearted snake.

Would it kill him to act like that all the time?

She splashed some water on her face, cursing herself internally for messing up her eye makeup in the process.

Why did he pick me for this job anyways? There were plenty of other more attractive women in the workplace at the firm. Why me? Sure I know him better than anyone. But still…

She started on reapplying the little makeup she had before, pinching her pale cheeks attempting to bring some color to them. Meghan wasn't that pale. She wasn't tan by any means either. She blames that on the slight red in her auburn hair. She looked closer at her face and saw the few freckles she had were more prominent then before, and she wished she had brought her cover up to hide them. In her opinion, the only thing she thought she had going for her were her eyes; a deep green, with brown speckles if you looked hard enough. She figured Tom has never noticed anything about her like that though, and never will.

Maybe it's a test, and if I fail, he can finally have a reason to fire me. He's probably looking for a reason anyways.

She looked at herself one last time and took a deep breath, before returning to the table.

They mostly sat in silence, admiring the view of downtown London while they waited for Tom's mom and sisters to arrive.

Then she saw his family walk in and take a seat across the table from them.

"Hello, I don't think we have been properly introduced, I'm Sarah, Tom's older sister." Meghan shook her hand and greeted her back. Sarah looked less like Tom and Emma, Meghan noticed, perhaps like their father. Her hair was dark yet she still had the blue striking eyes. Meghan made a note to ask Tom about his father later. He never spoke of him, and she hasn't yet to meet him either.

They waited for the waitress to come by and take their orders, then Emma piped up, "So..Tom, you and Meghan don't really seem to, oh how do I put this? You don't seem to be in love."

Meghan's breath hitched and she looked to Tom for an answer.

He however looked completely calm at the situation, "Well Emma, of course we love each other, why on Earth would I get married to someone I couldn't stand?"

Meghan saw that he looked as though he was in love for that instant, as he looked down at her, his eyes warmer than she's ever seen.

"Well it's still strange to me that you all didn't kiss at the party, is all."

"Oh not this again." Tom muttered

Meghan interjected, "Well, the thing is Emma, my Thomas is a 'wait til his married' type guy, isn't that right sweetheart? Not just sex, no kissing too!"

Emma only giggled at the false statement. His mother on the other hand looked to be confused, her mouth agape looking to Meghan and back to Tom, "You Thomas..? Well, better safe than sorry right!?" She laughed wholeheartedly as she smiled at her son lovingly. Emma's giggle turned into a loud laugh, as Tom only rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. "I…yes."

He then turned to Meghan, shooting daggers her way.

"I must run to the loo, anyone like to accompany me?" His mother and Emma decided they needed to go as well, leaving Meghan and Tom alone, again.

Meghan looked up to him and smiled gloriously, as if she had just won the award for causing the most embarrassment that she possibly could for her boss; when suddenly, she felt his rough hand on her bare thigh. It just sat there for a few seconds, as his thumb rubbed gently circles on her skin. Before she could enjoy what was happening, or cringe for that matter, he raised his hand and slapped down rather hard in that same spot.

Meghan yelped slightly, her face beat red.

"How dare you, you could have ruined the whole plan you know? What if they knew that I wasn't a virgin hm? Then you would have been in a predicament, wouldn't you have?" he sneered.

"Well, I would hope they wouldn't know, of your, sexual…past…partners. Erm…" Meghan was slightly flustered that they were even having a conversation about Tom's past sexual partners.

They sat in silence for a few moments when she decided to press the matter further, to rile him up.

"What did you do Tom, did you pester them to their wits end, make them go get your coffee, and be a complete arse to them to get them into your bed? What a charmer."

Tom only laughed.

Meghan smiled at his laugh; she had never before said anything that he thought was funny. She was soaking it in as much as possible.

"No Meghan, all I had to do was walk out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel around my waist, and that got them good."

Her heart stopped. "What…"

"You blush a lot you know?" it wasn't much of question then a statement, because Meghan was pretty sure her face was the same color as his red shirt. She couldn't dare to look at him. She looked down to her hands in her lap, trying to get her breathing under control, when she felt one of his long fingers nudge her chin up to look back at him. "It's a good look for you though." Tom was staring intently at her face, which only caused her to blush more.

Damn it!

"Oh?" She replied probably a couple octaves higher than her normal voice. He then dropped his hand, and smirked down at her, as if he was admiring his good work.

Right on time. Meghan though sarcastically as she saw his mother and sisters come back from the loo. As they sat down, Emma looked over to Meghan and noticed her face was still a bright pink. "You okay Meghan? You look a bit flustered."

Tom couldn't hold in his laugh and she only grimaced.


	8. Phone Call

Once they got back to the house again, Meghan went straight to Tom's room, to undress in some pjs. It was late when they got back, his mother left early on after everyone ate, but his sisters, and Tom and her moved to the bar and had a good time, to Meghan's surprise. Once you get a few drinks in him, he seems to forgo the arrogant boss act and loosens up quite a bit. Meghan made a note of that to use to her advantage later.

As she looked in her suitcases for her pjs, she realized she didn't pack any.

Ah hell

Then she glanced over to Tom's drawers.

Maybe one of his shirts will do, just for tonight. I didn't even bring any t shirts or anything of the sort.

Meghan probably could have found one of her nice shirts to wear to bed, but a sense of excitement and curiosity coursed through her and before she could stop herself or even think properly for that matter, she was divulging in his top drawer. She looked around behind her, just to make sure no one was there while she snooped for clothes. The first thing that caught her eye when she opened the top drawer was a picture of Tom and his father when he was younger. He had to have been at least 7-8 years old. Meghan grinned down at the young Tom, grinning back up at her from the picture. She sat that one back down and looked through a lot of old pictures that weren't framed, and reached underneath them all and felt a box. She pulled it out and dropped it as soon as she saw it was box of condoms.

Oh lord.

Meghan turned her head to glance back at the bed, and then back to the box she picked back up.

I wonder how many…

She couldn't even begin to imagine how many partners her boss had once had in the bed that she is sleeping in for the next two weeks. Meghan quickly put away the condom box and shut the drawer hastily.

She went to open the next drawer and saw a lot of old t-shirts, some with bands on them, others with his high school and college logos on them. She settled for a long, black t shirt, with The Beatles name imprinted on it. It went down right below her underwear, barely covering herself up. She turned around and saw her butt was almost hanging out at the back.

Ugh this is not going to work at all…

She was in midst of taking it off when right on cue, Tom barged in the door.

"Meghan I…" He stopped in his tracks, eyeing her. "Is that one of my shirts?"

Meghan halfheartedly laughed as she pulled the hem of the shirt down, trying to cover her legs some more. "Well, you see…funny story actually…I forgot to pack any pjs."

"You have got to be joking."

"Nope...So…I found an old shirt of yours, and tada!"

Meghan slightly smiled up at Tom, who was staring at her, longer than was permitted between them, "Well, alright…we can go shopping for you tomorrow I suppose."

Meghan plopped onto the bed, trying to push the thought away of that condom box, and how it was half empty.

The next day, was nothing extraordinary. Tom and Meghan went to buy some pajamas for her, and then they both came back to the mansion to hang out for the rest of the day. Once they got back, he said he had some more phone calls to make so he would be up in his room for a bit, so Meghan decided to roam around the house. As she passed by the room Tom was currently in, she overheard his conversation on the phone.

"So…you need me back by this coming Sunday? Right, okay. No that is fine. Thank you."

Meghan walked in the room as he was hanging up the phone, not realizing what she was even doing.

"Who needs you back Sunday?"

Tom quickly turned his chair to face her, surprised that she overheard.

"Eavesdropping were we? Well Pete needs us…me…back by this coming Sunday. I had a meeting that I had completely forgotten about and I must be back for. So our little vacation is going to be shortened."

Something in Tom's expression looked distant, and colder than usual, and Meghan realized it was just the old Tom poking his ugly head back into their lives. "But, Mr. Hiddleston…that wasn't part of the agreement; you told me that this vacation was to last 2 weeks, not only 1."

"Well I am afraid, Miss Smith, that this meeting cannot be cancelled."

Meghan rolled her eyes.

"I thought you would be thrilled you wouldn't have to continue on with this little unbearable charade for as long."

"You find me unbearable Tom?"

"You are the one who is always saying how obnoxious I am. The question was pertaining to you."

"But you didn't answer my question."

"I have some more work to do, Miss Smith, I will see you later." Tom sighed, to end the conversation.

She walked back down to make her something to eat in the kitchen, not really sure what to think about the situation. She was prepared to spend 2 weeks with this man she despised, well she did despise. Now she isn't sure how she feels about him at all. She certainly didn't have any feelings toward him to make things awkward, nor did she hate him as much as before. Being here the past few days has shown a different side of him. He still had his snarky ass side mind you, but it was a lot more bearable, and…dare she think, adorable?

No, absolutely not.

For the split moment Meghan had of reminiscing the plane ride, and how he impulsively took her hand, how he looked at her when he didn't think she was looking, and how all of that was going to end in less than 3 days.

Next Monday, she will be back with the same ol' stubborn, arrogant, pig she was so accustomed to at the office, the same Tom who she had just got done conversing with upstairs after the phone conversation, so she just decided to enjoy the small amount of time she has left with this version of Tom Hiddleston before it all went back to normal again.


	9. Dinner Dates & Surprises

The past few days have been the same as before. Tom and Meghan went out a few more times with his mother and his sisters. Meghan found his family to be completely sincere and so happy to be around, and even Tom was the same. It seemed like every day that passed he became more open, and relaxed. Above all, he seemed happy, and that really helped the family finally see the engagement as a good thing.

The next morning, Meghan woke up from a good night's rest, and tossed over onto the other side of the bed. Every muscle in her body tensed up as she collided with something…someone else. She opened her eyes slowly, through her heavy eyelids she still saw a figure laying before her, on the other side of the bed. Meghan let out a high pitch scream and almost fell off the bed entirely when a hand came up and grabbed her body so she wouldn't fall; the other hand covered her mouth.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same question!"

"Well you probably have woken everyone else up in the whole damn house!"

"Okay well, I will ask you again Thomas, what motivated you to hop into bed with me?!" Meghan could feel her damn cheeks almost burn off her face.

Tom just smirked and yawned as he moved to lay on his back. "Look, lying down on that blasted floor was really starting to hurt my back. Forgive me please." He stuck out his bottom lip in most likely the cutest puppy dog expression she had ever seen.

She held back her laugh and tried to glare back at him, without much luck. She noticed he wasn't even wearing a shirt either as her eyes drifted down lower.

"Really Tom? The least you could do is spare me the pain and put on a damn shirt if you are going to crawl into bed with me."

"Oh darling, I remember quite well how much you appreciate my torso, by the way your face that cute crimson color that I love so dearly."

He completely threw her off guard with that. "I don't know what you mean Tom…"

"On the other hand, if you wish for me to wear a shirt so desperately, you could always give me the one off your back, my shirt."

There was no stopping the blush at this point.

"But you know darling, I didn't buy you those pajamas yesterday just to look out." He kept his eyes on her, watching every uncomfortable twitch, and embarrassing stutter she made. It drove him mad.

"I…I'm wearing the pants to them, I…this shirt is far more…comfortable. That's all."

Tom edged closer to Meghan, as if they weren't close enough on the bed. He cocked his head to the side, contemplating something.

"Is it?"

Meghan wouldn't dare tell him the truth. The truth that was yes, Meghan went back to where she left the shirt his Beatles shirt, after she took it off the first time, and put it back on. She missed wearing it, and more importantly she missed the way it comforted her in every way, helping her sleep. The first time she wore it, she was overcome with the scent that lingered from Tom's cologne. It was intoxicating, and she told herself that in the morning she would wake up early enough to switch shirts so he wouldn't know. Yet here they were.

She looked back to him, noticing his eyes were staring at her lips. She involuntary licked them slightly, and then kicked herself internally.

"Well, I am going to take a shower, I will see you around later, right, right, okay."

Meghan rolled out of the bed as quickly as she could, and ran to the restroom, not looking back at the smirking jackass in the bed.

Once they made it down the stairs, his mother greeted them kindly, along with his eldest sister.

"Oooh, what was going on up there this morning Tom? I heard someone yelling! I thought you were a "wait til you're married chap" according to Meghan!" Sarah winked.

"Sarah! Hush!" Tom's mom blushed and smiled dearly at the couple, who looked completely surprised at the accusation that they were doing anything remotely related to that a few minutes prior.

"No Sarah, Meg and I were only having a tiny disagreement on the wedding is all. Nothing of that nature happened." Tom smoothly replied, looking back to Meghan, smirking.

Damn him, and his stupid smirking abs

Xxx

"You know, I could get used to it here, London. It's very nice"

"Oh, yes. It certainly is."

"Where has your dad been all this time? If you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh no it's quite alright. He couldn't make it in this week, work related things."

"Like father, like son."

Tom rolled his eyes.

It was silent for a few more seconds, and Meghan realized that for the past week, every time she and Tom were together like this, they weren't alone. Earlier that day, his mother insisted that since this was the last day we were spending here before our plane left out tomorrow, that Tom needed to take her out, just the two of them, before they left. The silence was almost awkward, but Meghan looked up at Tom and he looked completely calm and not uncomfortable at all, almost the opposite actually. He looked to her as she was checking his demeanor and blue eyes met green and she relaxed, knowing she wasn't making him feel uncomfortable, since it was only the two of them.

Meghan cleared her throat, "So why did you move to the states?"

"Well, there were several reasons. First off, I knew I had a better chance at starting my career there."

"You went to college here though right?"

"Yes." Tom looked out the window thoughtfully, "But I wanted a change…"

His face suddenly turned sour, as if he was reminiscing something unpleasant.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories, or anything of the sort."

Tom was surprised that she was reading him like a book, he usually kept his feeling pent up pretty well around others, but here lately he was feeling as if he could let loose around Meghan and he felt he could almost tell her something that needed to be voiced. Something that has been haunting him for the past couple of days…

"Well well well! Look what we have here!"

Meghan looked to the direction of the noise and saw Robbie moseying his way over to the table.

Tom groaned loud enough for her to hear, and rolled his eyes in his direction.

Robbie finally made it over to the table with a wide grin on his freckled face, as he sat in the booth beside Meghan.

"Well, hello Robbie, nice to see you again." Meghan tried to sound as happy to see him as she could, even though she wasn't thrilled in the least.

"Can I sit with you guys?"

"Well you already answered that question yourself when you sat beside Meg didn't you?" Tom answered back coldly.

"Well, did you all like the party the other night that we threw for you both?" Robbie asked the both of them, but staring only at Meghan.

"I did yes it was fun." Tom answered abruptly . Meghan looked over to Tom showing how uncomfortable this situation was making her, only he wasn't even glancing her way. His hands were clenched up in balls on the table as he was staring down at his menu.

"What about you darling, did you enjoy yourself?" Robbie cooed as he winked at her. His arm slid behind the seat almost touching her.

"I uh yeah I did." Meghan squirmed in her seat, attempting to move as far away from him as possible.

Tom noticed this interaction and stared bullets down at Robbie.

"Now Rob, don't be flirting with my fiancée."

Robbie laughed, "Oh come now Thomas, you think I would steal your girl away…again?"

Meghan raised her eyebrows and looked over at Tom, who looked like he was about to punch him in the nose.

"Robbie…" Tom warned him

"Well to give her credit, she is exceptionally beautiful, don't you think Tom?"

'Of course! Why is that a question?"

"Well, the other night, you didn't seem to be in love with each other at all. Is there something you both aren't telling us?" Robbie looked almost excited at the prospect of bringing Tom down.

"Of course I love her!" Tom exclaimed. I think half of the restaurant turned in our direction to listen in.

Meghan noticed that he almost looked sincere in his confession to Robbie. Meghan only blushed slightly and agreed by nodding her head.

"Well in my humble opinion Tom…"

"No one needs your opinion Robbie!" Tom retorted back.

Robbie continued anyway, "Like I was saying, I don't think you give the poor girl enough credit. You hardly even glanced her way the other night. That is certainly not how couples that are so in love as you say to be act. If I were you I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off her."

Tom rose in his seat, obviously pissed. "Robert, I think it is time for you to leave. Now."

"Well fine," he turned back to look at Meghan once more. "But darling, if he turns out to be too boring for you, you know I am always here." He winked and then left them be.

Tom watched him as he left, making sure he walked out the doors in the front. He was still standing up and looked as though he could kill.

Meghan cleared her throat and Tom came back to reality. He walked over to her side of the booth and sat.

"Sorry about all of that. He is such a nuisance, and very persistent when it comes to things he…wants."

Meghan felt incredibly uncomfortable to ask the next question but it had to be done. "So, what was he going on about, when he mentioned stealing your girl away?"

"Erm…well if you must know, after high school graduation, Rob and I had a falling out of sorts, I'm still curious why mother invited him to the party earlier this week. But the reason we fell out, was because he stole my girlfriend from me."

"He stole your girlfriend away from you?" Meghan couldn't hide the shock at this confession. "But how?"

"He slept with her."

"Ah."

It was silent for a few more seconds before Meghan decided to continue with the questioning.

"So, why did she..? I mean…"

"It was because I was moving to the states. After I told her of my plans, she became distant, and the next thing I knew, she was in Rob's bed."

Meghan scoffed. "How pathetic, I mean she could have broken up with you before she decided to whore about with him, or at least been honest and straight with you."

"You don't understand."

"Oh yeah, because it is totally understandable and acceptable to sleep with your boyfriend's best friend when he did nothing wrong!"

Right on cue, the waitress came by with our food, Meghan didn't even remember making the order in the first place, with everything that had gone on.

"You don't get it Meg! Okay?! She was confused! We dated for 3 years and then I decided to go up and leave her!

"Meg?" she asked him.

"Oh…do you not like that?"

"Well, it's a bit too personal for my taste, you know since this…" Meghan gestured between them, "is going to be over tomorrow morning, when we get on that plane back to New York."

"Oh I see, so wearing my favorite shirt to sleep and sleeping in my bed, and meeting my family is not personal to you, but me calling you Meg is too personal for your taste. Right."

"Look Tom, I am just trying to be realistic here, you know since things aren't going to be like this forever."

"Is it not?"

"No I…what..?" Meghan's eyes burned into his, trying to understand what he was getting at.

He only waved off his slip of the tongue. "We should go back and start to repack our things for the trip back tomorrow."

"No, what did you mean Tom?"

"I don't know what you mean Meg."

"Oh stop. You know you are a right pain in my ass."

Tom just grinned.

Meghan rolled her eyes, and a few seconds later her phone started going off.

"Hello? Oh yes, this is she! Oh…how wonderful! Thank you so much…right…okay I will see you then!"

As Meghan hung up the phone, Tom could see the excitement in her eyes over whatever she had just found out.

"Was that Pete? Or someone from the office?"

"Actually Tom, I have something I..I was needing to say to you…You see…that was Mr. Davis, from the branch down in LA. A few months back, I had sent my resume to them, and here of the late they have contacted me in interest of me coming there to work for them. My benefits would increase, as my salary. I just couldn't let an opportunity of this stature go to waste!" Meghan finally looked up to Tom, and was surprised to see him staring back at her, with a hurt expression plastered on his face.

"So, you're going to…leave? Leave me…and the company behind?"

"Well, yes I must. I cannot let this opportunity go to waste Tom. I thought you might be a bit more happy for me…"

"But, I could pay you more…I could give you everything they are."

"But you see Tom, that's the problem, you can't. There, I would be editor, not the assistant."

Tom was still staring at her with wide eyes, that tore Meghan apart. She didn't understand why he was being so upset about her leaving.

"But, you are my assistant! How am I to find another at this point in time? You could have told me earlier on!"

"Oh Tom honestly. I didn't figure they would give my resume any thought at all, it was only wishful thinking on my part. But I am absolutely positive that you will find yourself another assistant in no time. You and I both know that most of those women at the firm would get on their hands and knees to please you, including some of the men I might add!"

"But…I don't want any of those bimbos. If I did, I could have easily fired you and got one of them to take your place easy."

Meghan tried not to look hurt at that comment, because right now, she didn't even care what he threw at her. No matter what he said, she was still leaving. Leaving New York, and all her troubles behind, including Tom, and that made her giddy. Not having to deal with his pompous ass anymore…

"Meghan…I think I love you."


	10. Lovegames

Now that was unexpected. Even for her.

"What..?" Meghan gasped. "Tom you are beyond ridiculous you know that?"

She couldn't stop the giggling from pouring out of her mouth at his revelation.

Once she was able to control herself, she looked back to Tom, and saw the hurt in his blue eyes.

"I read your manuscript you wished me to read! It was beyond words, incredible!"

Meghan's jaw dropped. "Oh I see. So since you actually read my story, now you think that I am just going to fall to my knees in front of you and beg for your love? Yeah very funny Thomas, what a funny joke; this whole situation is a joke! Just because you read my manuscript, you expect me to spill my feelings for you?

"So you do have feelings?" Tom asked half-hopeful

"Oh yes I have feelings alright; feelings about you that have been adding up for the past 2 years, feelings of pain, hurt, anger, resentment…towards you. She spit the last word out as if was a piece of trash.

Meghan could feel the tears stinging her eyes, threatening to fall. "You say you love me yet you haven't even kissed me for that matter; not only that but we hardly know each other! We have spent a week together Tom, a week. And yet you still expect me to believe this nonsense. You, and your sarcastic tongue, and arrogant attitude; the way you have treated me at the office is completely unforgivable. And now you are playing your most cruel prank of all. Trying to manipulate my feelings! Well, let me tell you Mr. Hiddleston, it is NOT going to…

Tom was done listening to her rambling and pushed himself up over the table at her, his lips crashing down on hers to shut her up, like he had been so desperately wanting to ever since he saw her wearing his favorite shirt. Or maybe it was when he heard her whisper his name in her dreams as she slept in his bed the other night. Or it could have been when he first noticed Meghan staring at him during those countless meetings, even when she thought he didn't see, he wasn't even sure, and didn't even care at that moment.

Xxx

His mouth weren't as hard and cold as Meghan had always imagined it to be, and it didn't taste of repulsive things like acid or smoke like she had expected to match with his personality. No, this kiss reminded Meghan of the Tom she had grown accustomed to whilst she was here in London. His lips were warm and inviting, as they moved against Meghan's perfectly. It was everything that was good about Tom, all bound together in one soft, surprisingly sweet kiss.

Unfortunately it was over just as quick as it had begun, to Meghan's surprised dismay.

"Tom…we can't. I can't."

Meghan quickly regained control of her senses and retreated from the restaurant booth. She dared a glance back to him and saw his eyes glued to every move she made, he looked as if he was really in love with her.

Once she stood, she looked back at him and stated, "I am going back to the house to finish packing, and I will be leaving tonight, you can tell your family that I had to get back for something important at the office, I don't know. Make something up; you are good at making up lies after all.

And with that, she left him sitting there alone to drown in his thoughts.

Xxx

Tom didn't stay long after Meghan had gone up and left him, he stayed long enough to gain his senses back from the kiss that took his breath away, the perfect kiss from the perfect Mrs. Smith. Once he got back to the house, he ran straight upstairs to catch her and talk to her about the events that took place at the restaurant. To his horror he was greeted by nothing and no one; only his bags and some of his clothes that were sprawled out in different locations. He looked for any glimpse of her, which might prove that she was still her, but there was nothing. She had come back and packed her bags in a hurry, and had left. With that, he packed the rest of his things in a hurry, and left the house after a quick farewell to his folks. After what seemed like the longest taxi ride of his life, he made it to the airport. He called her about 6-7 times and after it going straight to voice mail each time, he decided that she was either already on the plane back to New York, or she was just ignoring him. He looked up at the flight times and saw with a heavy heart that the closet flight to NYC was just taking off. And he knew she was on it, without him. He sighed and bought his ticket for the next available flight, and waited it out. He figured he would see her tomorrow at the firm.

Xxx

She sighed as the plane finally became flat in the air. When the stew dress on the speaker came and told the passengers they were able to turn their phones and other devices on, Meghan looked to her phone. She saw she had 7 missed calls from Tom and 1 voice mail. She rolled her eyes and listened to his petty voice mail.

Alright good job Meghan, take the first available plane ride out of here and then don't answer my calls!? Well, I guess you can't since you are probably in the air as we speak. I hope you aren't as nervous as you were the first time. If you actually waited on me I could be there holding your hand in your crisis. Remember, like the last time?

Meghan smiled slightly at the memory, and then quickly cast the thought aside.

But anyways, I just wanted to talk to you, about everything. Not like this though. I will have to wait til we get to New York I suppose. I will see you then love.

Meghan wondered when she would see him again, and if he was able to find a flight that came after hers, she forgot to check and see. As soon as she made it to the airport, she asked for the first ride to New York. She had to leave, to have time to breathe and think, without Tom there.

Tom.

Meghan's mind goes back to the restaurant scene, when Tom decides to completely throw her for a loop, and confess his deepest confession to her.

I think I love you.

Meghan scoffed.

Love. What the hell Thomas. I mean, do you honestly think toying with my emotions is fun? Especially on this caliber?

She can admit to having feelings for him right when he got the coveted job as editor at the firm. Who wouldn't though? He was very good looking, the way he would allow his stubble to grow just a tad, and then shave it before it grew too much, and his big, blue eyes. Meghan could stare into them all day and not feel anymore remorse. And that accent? Hot. But once you got passed that thin, good looking exterior laid a cold, harsh interior.

Meghan's thoughts quickly left the old Tom. The bastard Tom. And instead went to the new Tom. The Tom she had grown accustomed to for the past week, the Tom that she felt comfortable enough to wear his shirt to bed, and to call him out on his silly tendencies. She was going to miss that Tom, she could even find herself having feelings for that one, given more time. But she knew she would never see that Tom ever again, he was gone. And she was going to have to face those facts. Nor did it matter much anyways. She was leaving as soon as she could to LA. So she could rid her lonely life at the firm and have a better income and maybe even some time to herself. She couldn't let the slight feelings she had grown for him over this past week to influence her in any way. She knew what she had to do.


End file.
